


A Largely Platonic Cave

by mousewritings



Category: Sonic Boom (Cartoon)
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash, i love boom!shadow so naturally i made him even more insufferable
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:13:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21767212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mousewritings/pseuds/mousewritings
Summary: “You know I love, uh, hanging out with you and all, but do you think we can go somewhere that’s not a cave for once?”Shadow stares at him. “What do you mean, go somewhere that’s not a cave? Think you’re too good for caves?”
Relationships: Shadow the Hedgehog & Sonic the Hedgehog, Shadow the Hedgehog/Sonic the Hedgehog
Comments: 20
Kudos: 267





	A Largely Platonic Cave

“You know I love, uh, hanging out with you and all, but do you think we can go somewhere that’s _not_ a cave for once?”

Shadow stares at him. “What do you mean, go somewhere that’s not a cave? Think you’re too good for caves?”

“No,” Sonic quickly says, “no. No. I like caves just fine. This is a great cave. It’s just… there’s not a lot to do in caves? Besides sitting around and staring at the wall?”

“I like sitting around and staring at the wall,” Shadow states.

“And there’s nothing wrong with that! You do you, dude. But every single time we meet up it’s always in this cave, or the cave by the shore, or the cave with the family of bats in it. Remember when we interrupted their dinner that one time? _That_ was awkward—”

“Fine!” Shadow exclaims, looking about five seconds away from punching something. “If it’ll get you to shut up, we can go somewhere else.”

“Great!” Sonic grins as he leads Shadow out. “This cave sucks, anyway.”

They leave the desert and head into the village. Shadow stays a couple steps behind Sonic as they walk through the village, his arms crossed and his face set to a seemingly permanent glower. Sonic reluctantly slows down to fall into step beside him.

“So, what do you wanna do?” he asks with a smile.

Shadow turns his glare on him. “Kick you. To death.”

“Okay,” Sonic says, drawing out the O. “Well, how about seeing a movie? Or we could eat at Meh Burger. We could even visit”—he shudders—“the library.”

“No. All of those sound terrible. Suggest something better or I will end your pathetic life right now.”

Sonic pretends to look around so Shadow won’t see him roll his eyes. “Well, there’s a couple roadside attractions if you don’t want to stay in the village. Like, there’s the giant ball of twine, which…” He sucks in a pained breath. “Doesn’t exist anymore… because I destroyed it…”

Shadow suddenly stops in front of the last building Sonic wants to be in. “Let’s go to the courthouse,” he says. “I want to see people’s lives get ruined by your broken justice system.”

“Of course you do,” Sonic grumbles, but he follows Shadow in.

After a few traffic hearings Shadow mostly giggles through—and _that’s_ a trip, listening to Shadow sound like a normal person—Sonic lets out an obnoxiously loud groan. “Ugh, this is so boring! Come on, you saw someone cry because they couldn’t pay their fine, Shadow; can’t we do something else now?”

“Hmph. They _did_ weep like a small child,” Shadow says. “Fine. What did you want to see, again? A ‘movie’?”

Sonic looks at him. “Shadow, do you know what a movie is?”

“What? How dare you ask me such an inane question, you fool. You absolute troglodyte. I know what a ‘movie’ is.”

“Sure, sure.”

They exit the courthouse, ignoring the looks everyone gives them, and go to the movie theater. To Sonic’s disappointment and frustration, the only movie playing is that terrible tiger’s newest excuse for entertainment, but he guesses it’s better than nothing.

Shadow walks into the theater.

“Sir, you need a ticket before you can enter,” the cashier at the box office says.

Shadow turns around to glare at them. “What, and use your idiotic faith-based currency? No, thanks. I’ll pay when your precious ‘money’ is back on the gold standard.” The door swings shut behind him.

Sonic sighs and pulls out his wallet.

When he gets inside, tickets in hand, he sees Shadow standing in the corner and scowling at everyone who steps too close to him.

“Hey, I’m gonna get some popcorn,” he says as he approaches him. “You want anything?”

Shadow pauses. “Chocolate.”

“Okay? Did not expect that. Uh, what about a drink? They have, like, thirty different sodas for some reason.”

Shadow scowls. “I’ll hydrate when I’m dead. Now stop asking me what I want and get out of my face.”

Sonic resists the urge to roll his eyes again. _I’ll hydrate when I’m dead_. Ugh. He’s always saying stuff like that. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead.” “I’ll pay taxes when I’m dead.” “I’ll go on a lifechanging journey with you and discover the true meaning of friendship when I’m dead.” _Ugh_. Sonic rolls his eyes anyway.

“Excuse me?” Shadow asks with a growl. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What—this?” Sonic rolls his eyes again.

“Take that back.”

“No. In fact, I’ll do it again.”

Shadow narrows his eyes. “You wouldn’t dare—”

Sonic rolls his eyes a third time.

Shadow punches him across the lobby, through the wall, and into the village center.

Sonic lands on the stone ground. He groans through the pain and gets back up as Shadow appears in front of him. “Jeez, what’s your problem?!”

“ _My_ problem? _I’m_ not the one who keeps spelunking the caves of hedgehogs who don’t want their caves spelunked!” Shadow exclaims. “I want to be left _alone_ , Sonic!”

“Yeah, well, at least _I’m_ not some edgy weirdo who hangs out in caves all day and doesn’t know what movies are! And if you want to be left alone so much, why do you keep agreeing to hang out with me?!”

“I don’t _agree_ to hang out with you, you idiot! I just go along with your requests!”

“ _That’s literally the definition of agreeing!_ ” Sonic throws his hands up in frustration. “Ugh! I don’t even know why I bother! Go back to your cave or whatever; I give up!” Without sparing Shadow another glance, he tears off in a random direction, leaving him alone in the village.

Sonic ends up in front of his own house. Heaving a sigh, he plops down in the sand and stares out at the receding tide. What the heck _is_ Shadow’s problem, anyway? Who hurt him? He should’ve done what Tails said and left the guy alone. Or actually listened to Shadow the first time he threatened to fill his stomach with rocks. Whatever.

He suddenly hears the crack of Chaos Control behind him. Great. What does he want now? Sonic keeps his gaze on the tide.

To his surprise, Shadow doesn’t shout an insult at him or try to continue their one-sided fight. Instead, Shadow sits down next to him, grumbles about getting sand in his quills, and falls into a contemplative silence. Sonic scoots away from him.

“You dropped these when I punched you out of the movie theater,” Shadow says after a few uncomfortable minutes. He drops the tickets in the sand next to Sonic. “Perhaps you should work out so your grip won’t be so pathetic and weak.”

Sonic huffs a sigh, but this is probably the nicest Shadow’s been to him in, uh, a while. He accepts the tickets and shakes the sand off them. “What are you doing here, Shadow? Back to punch me again?”

“As much as I’d like to, no. I’m here to say I’m—that I—”

Shadow falls silent again. Sonic looks to see him grimacing. Oh, god, is he gonna talk about his feelings?

“H-hey, it’s fine,” Sonic hastily says. “Not like I haven’t punched you, either. Don’t worry about it.”

Shadow looks extremely relieved by the change in topic. “Yes… you have. I remember every act of aggression you’ve ever committed against me in perfect detail.”

“What, why? What’s the point of that?”

“Don’t ask me dumb questions. Now tell me, Sonic—why do you want me to hang out with you so badly? You’ve tracked me down to my cave of choice every week for the last month, and needless to say, it’s very irritating.”

Sonic laughs uncomfortably. “Hey now, what was that about dumb questions?” He clears his throat when Shadow glares at him. “I—jeez, I don’t know.”

“You don’t know? So you’ve tracked me down to my cave of choice every week for the last month for no reason?”

“No, of course not! I mean, you know, there _is_ a reason, but not like a _reason_ reason—you know?”

“What?”

“Look, just—” He sighs again. “You seem like you need a friend, all right? And I know you hate friendship or whatever, but the thought of you just hanging out in caves by yourself all the time and brooding constantly makes me sad.”

Shadow scowls, as usual. “I don’t need your pity,” he grumbles, “and I _don’t_ need friends.”

“Oh, really? Then why do you always end up hanging out with me anyway? Why did you agree to watch a movie with me?” He thrusts up the tickets. “And why did you bother bringing these back? I think you _do_ want a friend, or even just someone to be around. I bet this whole being-a-moody-loner-who-threatens-to-murder-everyone thing is making you miserable, Shadow, and if you’d made friends with literally _anyone_ —”

“Not _just_ anyone,” Shadow suddenly blurts out. He just as suddenly seems shocked, and he looks away.

Sonic waits for him to elaborate. He doesn’t, but Sonic hears him loud and clear.

They sit with that for a moment.

“I’m not going to admit what you’re thinking,” Shadow eventually says, “but I will say that you’re right about one thing.”

Sonic leans in a little, smirking. “Oh? And what am I right about?”

Shadow bristles. “Wipe that stupid grin off your face.”

“Aw, come on! You just said I was actually right about something! Can’t blame me if I rub it in.”

Shadow glares at him, but he seems to accept that Sonic’s just like this. He forces a breath through his nose. “I… don’t know what a movie is.”

Sonic almost laughs— _almost_ —but Shadow’s never been this vulnerable around him, and maybe around anyone in general. It’s still funny, though; he’ll tell the others about it later. “Well, it’d be easier to show you,” he says, holding up the tickets again and letting his smirk soften, “but I’m afraid we missed our showtime by a good half hour.”

Shadow stands. “Then we’ll pass the time until the next one at that awful food place you and your annoying friends like so much. And if that cashier at the theater doesn’t accept these tickets, I’ll crush them like the insignificant and underpaid insect they are.”

For once, Sonic listens to his impulse control and refrains from rolling his eyes. He takes Shadow’s outstretched hand and lets him pull him up.

**Author's Note:**

> luckily for shadow, movies are basically sitting around and staring at the wall, but slightly more interesting


End file.
